Two more days until life returns to pre-election normal

By CAROLE MOORE

Published: Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 04:39 AM.

In two more days, I can watch television without seeing wall-to-wall political advertisements. In two more days, I can start answering my phone again, even if I don’t recognize the number. In two more days, I can collect mail that isn’t filled with political flyers. And, most important of all, in two more days I can have civil conversations with people without hearing the phrases “pay their fair share” or “lead from behind.”

In two more days, I can stop worrying whether or not my political leanings will slip through in what I say or write (for the record, I’m an independent). As a journalist, I try very hard not to let my own preconceived beliefs bleed over into what I cover. Except for endorsing one local candidate — a man who is a long-time personal friend I’ve known for a billion years or so — I have been pretty successful.

In two more days, I won’t have to be cagey about what I say when the talk turns to elections: I can run into the grocery store and bump into friends and acquaintances and pass the time without worrying about offending someone. I can restore my newsfeed in Facebook, so I don’t have to read nasty political post after nasty political post. I can stop reading about how much Ann Romney and Michelle Obama’s clothes cost, not hear anymore jokes about dogs strapped to cars or Joe Biden’s gaffes and be spared from hearing the words — “and I approved this ad” — for at least two more years.

In two more days, I can go back to believing that there really is more news out there than upcoming elections. And that is because there really will be. Right now it literally takes a terrorist attack to blow politics off of the cable news shows. That’s one of the reasons I like newspapers so much. Yeah, they cover politics, but they also cover the things that matter the most to me, like whether or not my taxes are going up, how many troops the military is going to lose and whether my electric bill and homeowners insurance are being hiked once again.

In two more days, I can watch the number of signs on vacant lots and street corners start disappearing, witness gracious defeat or bitter acquiescence, watch the holiday season engulf us like a tsunami and stop avoiding the late night shows because the monologues will actually be funny again instead of rehashed politics.

I kind of enjoyed politics when I covered them years ago, in the days of Ormond Barbee, Everett Barbee, Ed Hurst, Ed Cole, Sybil Gandy, Bruce Teachey and Ernie Wright. They were all local office holders and, in their own ways, politicians of sort, but there was a decent gentility — even when they disagreed wholeheartedly with one another — that is missing from today’s political discourse. And, although I know there was always a fair amount of backroom dealing in the political process of the past, at least people could discuss their political beliefs without resorting to lying or name-calling.

We may have come a long way over the years, but sometimes I think we’re facing in the wrong direction.

In two more days, I can watch television without seeing wall-to-wall political advertisements. In two more days, I can start answering my phone again, even if I don’t recognize the number. In two more days, I can collect mail that isn’t filled with political flyers. And, most important of all, in two more days I can have civil conversations with people without hearing the phrases “pay their fair share” or “lead from behind.”

In two more days, I can stop worrying whether or not my political leanings will slip through in what I say or write (for the record, I’m an independent). As a journalist, I try very hard not to let my own preconceived beliefs bleed over into what I cover. Except for endorsing one local candidate — a man who is a long-time personal friend I’ve known for a billion years or so — I have been pretty successful.

In two more days, I won’t have to be cagey about what I say when the talk turns to elections: I can run into the grocery store and bump into friends and acquaintances and pass the time without worrying about offending someone. I can restore my newsfeed in Facebook, so I don’t have to read nasty political post after nasty political post. I can stop reading about how much Ann Romney and Michelle Obama’s clothes cost, not hear anymore jokes about dogs strapped to cars or Joe Biden’s gaffes and be spared from hearing the words — “and I approved this ad” — for at least two more years.

In two more days, I can go back to believing that there really is more news out there than upcoming elections. And that is because there really will be. Right now it literally takes a terrorist attack to blow politics off of the cable news shows. That’s one of the reasons I like newspapers so much. Yeah, they cover politics, but they also cover the things that matter the most to me, like whether or not my taxes are going up, how many troops the military is going to lose and whether my electric bill and homeowners insurance are being hiked once again.

In two more days, I can watch the number of signs on vacant lots and street corners start disappearing, witness gracious defeat or bitter acquiescence, watch the holiday season engulf us like a tsunami and stop avoiding the late night shows because the monologues will actually be funny again instead of rehashed politics.

I kind of enjoyed politics when I covered them years ago, in the days of Ormond Barbee, Everett Barbee, Ed Hurst, Ed Cole, Sybil Gandy, Bruce Teachey and Ernie Wright. They were all local office holders and, in their own ways, politicians of sort, but there was a decent gentility — even when they disagreed wholeheartedly with one another — that is missing from today’s political discourse. And, although I know there was always a fair amount of backroom dealing in the political process of the past, at least people could discuss their political beliefs without resorting to lying or name-calling.

We may have come a long way over the years, but sometimes I think we’re facing in the wrong direction.